"If you’ve been a member of a small community, you know that often times your identity is tied up within your post office," Duffy, R-Ashland, told a Wisconsin Public Radio affiliate in Superior. "You may not have a police force but you do have your post office.”

Duffy added that he doesn't consider the postal service "the fat" that needs to be trimmed in Washington, and that several of his House colleagues are backing legislation to keep the offices open.

The Wisconsin closures are part of more than 3,600 post offices under consideration for closure due to budget constraints at the USPS.